352 Notes on Kajlristdn. [No. 4. 



inhabitants of the neighbouring countries professing the Muhamma- 

 daii religion — the Chitralis or Kashkaris, who are considered to be 

 of the same stock as the Kafirs — the people of Gilgitt, and Gunjut, 

 belonging to Yasin — the Badakhshanis and the Nimchahs, who are 

 either converted Kafirs, or descendants of those who have intermar- 

 ried with their Muhammadan neighbours. On public occasions the 

 Kafirs are very liberal with it, and it is put into vessels and placed in 

 convenient places, where all who come may help themselves. There 

 are stringent regulations regarding picking the grapes before a certain 

 day, and great care is taken in their cultivation. 



The wine is much better in flavour than in appearance, and does 

 not seem to be of a very intoxicating nature, judging from the deep 

 potations in which they indulge, without becoming over excited or 

 quarrelsome. In the manufacture they boil it, and use it without 

 filtering, which is the cause of its untempting appearance. 



Bread, the staple article of food, is made from three different kinds 

 of grain — wheat, barley, and arzun or millet mixed together and 

 ground into flour in a hand-mill. This is made into thick cakes or 

 bannocks, baked in an oven, or on an iron dish, called in Scotland a 

 " gridle," suspended over the fire. 



Their method of slaughtering cattle is strange and superstitious. 

 The animal intended to be killed is brought out, and is seized by the 

 head by one man, whilst a second strikes it a blow on the neck with a 

 sword or long and sharp knife. If the head is severed from the 

 body by one stroke, which is generally the case, the flesh is considered 

 pure and fit for food, but if not, they give the carcase to the Baris, a 

 certain tribe residing amongst them, held in the light of Pariahs, or 

 as Helots amongst the Greeks, and who would seem to be the 

 remnant of the aboriginals of the country — the Paropamisidse of the 

 classical authors. These people carry on all the mechanical trades, such 

 as blacksmiths, weavers, carpenters, cutlers, etc. The Kafirs themselves 

 look upon such occupations as mean and disreputable, and consider the 

 profession of arms and agriculture alone to be creditable. On jour- 

 man, and are infidels. So prevalent is the use of wine amongst these people, that 

 every Kafir has a Ichlg or leathern bottle full of wine hung round his neck, for 

 they drink wine instead of water." Baber's Micmoirs. 



